


One Piece's Marine-centric drabble

by Fourleaves_Clover



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Drabble Collection, Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentors, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, OPAdmiralsWeek2020, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fourleaves_Clover/pseuds/Fourleaves_Clover
Summary: A collection of short drabbles featuring various MarinesPart of One Piece's Admirals Week 2020Day 4:Family|| Apocalypse AUDay 5: 6: Vacation ||Sci-fi AU
Kudos: 3
Collections: One Piece Admirals Week 2020





	1. Of families and broken bonds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon compliant, Zephyr-centric, angst, family, sad ending, mentor
> 
> "Families don't end with blood."

In life, a person always had two families, one chosen without their input and another was entirely their choice.

And as Zephyr had learned early on, families, especially your own pick, didn’t end with blood.

Zephyr didn’t know what it would end with though, and he was afraid to find out the answer one day.

When his wife and kid died, the world had turned gray for the longest time, with despair choking him up every single waking moment. He couldn’t breathe without feeling hurt, couldn’t even sleep without being haunted by them. He saw them in a corner of the street disappearing into the crowd, he saw them on the ship that was about to depart. The world had been turned into ghosts and Zephyr felt like he had been followed by them. It hurt.

And then he took up teaching. And the world seemed to gain a little bit of colors back.

First it was to a group of peculiar cadets, not everyone turned out to be extraordinary, but Zephyr couldn’t help but remember the moody scowl of brave Sakazuki approaching him just as Zephyr was about to depart from an island on the North Blue with his first shipment of cadets. The boy had squared his shoulders and jutted out his chin in a stubborn pout, serious in a way that became a part of his identity. As ever, faithful Borsalino trailed behind him. But Zephyr didn’t know that part of the story at the time, yet. All he saw was a snot-nosed scowling kid and an easy going one behind him. “We want to join the Navy. Sign us up.”

The audacity of those _brats_.

Zephyr always smiled remembering that part of his past.

Somewhat stunned, Zephyr denied the request. These cadets were the best of the best, selected to join the special program in Marineford where they could be trained to the best of their ability. Some scrappy kids couldn’t possibly just walk up and demand to join. He had pointed toward the Marine base and told them in a no-nonsense voice that they could sign up there. This ship only belonged to the best.

“Let us join. And I _will_ become the best.”

Young Sakazuki had said that, eyes intense with burning conviction and Borsalino had walked up, standing next to him, shoulder to shoulder. “Please let us prove ourselves. We’ll scrub the deck for you if you let us in. We’re strong, ne~” his sentences were a slow drag, and his smile relaxed but the way he stood without faltering by his friend’s side told Zephyr that he had faced a spirited pair. That was rare and special in these chaotic times. And the Grand Line needed soldiers with fire who could ride her waves. There was no disadvantage to saying no. Why not? He would make a bet.

“Alright, brats, get on. And you are scrubbing the deck every day and if I find either of you slacking off, you are off the ship and to the next island ASAP, you hear me?” Zephyr warned. The Navy didn’t need lazy soldiers. The youths looked at each other before they both nodded. Zephyr sighed as he got on, listening to the footsteps of the two brats as they followed after him. Talking to Kong about this wasn’t going to be fun, but hopefully… he had made the right choice.

It turned out that the choice he made on a whim was the right one, and both of them quickly rose to become two of the best that he had ever taught, following swiftly by Kuzan who joined them shortly later on. Training the next generation of Marines had been fun and rewarding. It gave him a new way of bonding that he didn’t have when he just had a professional superior-subordinates relationship with people. Learning the way each of them ticked, seeing past the fronts they put up and being proud of them for their achievements, Zephyr suddenly had a new family he didn’t know that could still have after he failed his first one: Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan, Momonga, Doberman, Onigumo, Comil, Yamakaji, Strawberry, Hina, and Smoker… just to name a few of the more remarkable ones he had over the years. Living might be difficult and painful, but it was still worth it.

Then just as he thought he was allowed to have happiness, tragedy struck once more: his arm, lost; his students, dead. And their killer? Shichibukai.

This time it shattered the rest of Zephyr’s faith within the Marines. One after another across the years, horror after horror that he witnessed. They wore him down, breaking him with their insidious claws. How could such monster be allowed to become a Shichibukai?! Did all of his sacrifices and the ones before him mean nothing?! Was it all for a Navy that couldn’t even do Justice?! Where was the ‘just’ in ‘Justice’? Where was the ‘fair’ in ‘fairness’?! Why did he waste years of his life and lose so much only to gain nothing in return?! Pirates took away his family once, and then it took them again twice. Zephyr’s sleep was haunted by blood and glassy eyes.

One didn’t know how much blood a person had inside them until it wasn’t inside them anymore. There was so much of it. Zephyr felt like he was drowning sometimes. The screams inside his head overwhelmed thoughts of families and bonds. He just wanted the world to be _quiet_.

Family didn’t end with blood. It ended when bonds were severed and tears were shed. It ended on the battlefield with teacher against students, with mentor against pupils, with father against sons.

“Goodbye, Zephyr-sensei.”


	2. Project Pacifista

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Which was the greater Evil? To seek the forbidden knowledge for the sake of knowing, or to commit genocide under the notion of doing the right things?

If it wasn’t for the steady sounds the heart monitor made, Sengoku wouldn’t have been able to tell whether they were dead or alive, sealed away from the outside world by their life support pads. Heads wrapped tightly in white gauge, the three of them looked nothing like the strong and promising young men that Sengoku had grown fond of, the bright future of the Galactic Militia. Now sleeping the days away, they had been reduced to mere lab rats, augmented bodies enhanced to their maximum capacity with a chip implanted in their brain to ensure that they wouldn’t have doubt toward the cause of their Militia.

Would it make them serve Justice better, Sengoku wondered. Would their cause always be right? Was it right to strip free will from a person to ensure that they would be loyal forever?  
  


* * *

  
Sengoku watched Ohara as it burned because it dared to reach for the untouchable star, like waxed wings that melted when a hero came too close to the sun.

It was eerie how quiet an explosion in space was. One minute, the evacuees ship was still trying to get away, the next, it was in pieces, the sounds of people’s agony never reached Sengoku as Sakazuki gave his order, ears bleeding, head clutched tight in his hand, the implantation fighting against the morals warring inside him. Next to him, Kuzan had folded himself nearly in half, migraine reaching an unbearable level, blood pouring freely from his bitten tongue.

Which was the greater Evil? To seek the forbidden knowledge for the sake of knowing, or to commit genocide under the notion of doing the right things?

Sengoku turned toward his companion, watching Borsalino silently dab his bloody nose with a tissue, giving the monitor screen a detached smile as he crossed his legs and folded his hands in front of him without acting out, the twitching fingers betrayed the level of pain he was also in.

No, no need to answer that question at all. He already knew which was the greatest Evil among them.


End file.
